Synopsis:
In the bestselling tradition of Sloan Crosley’s I Was Told There’d Be Cake and Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, a collection of humorous essays on what it’s like to be unabashedly awkward in a world that regards introverts as hapless misfits, and black as cool.

My name is “J” and I’m awkward—and black. Someone once told me those were the two worst things anyone could be. That someone was right. Where do I start?

Being an introvert in a world that glorifies cool isn’t easy. But when Issa Rae, the creator of the Shorty Award–winning hit series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,” is that introvert—whether she’s navigating love, work, friendships, or “rapping”—it sure is entertaining. Now, in this debut collection of essays written in her witty and self-deprecating voice, Rae covers everything from cybersexing in the early days of the Internet to deflecting unsolicited comments on weight gain, from navigating the perils of eating out alone and public displays of affection to learning to accept yourself—natural hair and all.

A reflection on her own unique experiences as a cyber pioneer yet universally appealing, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girlis a book no one—awkward or cool, black, white, or other—will want to miss.

Links

Goodreads

About a month ago Sofia messages me with a link to Awkward Black Girl on YouTube, telling me I had to watch it immediately. So I did... and didn't sleep much that night, because I binge watched it.

Here it is, in case you haven't seen it yet. You're welcome.

After I finished that, Sofia informed me that Issa Rae has a new show on HBO that I'll need to check out. So I did. Then, later that week, I was chatting about her shows in a facebook nerd group and someone brought up she had a book.

My head exploded. I NEEDED THAT BOOK!

If you cannot tell, I totally have a girl crush on Issa Rae right now.

Flash forward about a couple weeks. I'm in book club and we're talking about her shows, and one of the other members (Andreana) mentions she has her book on audible and there's a new feature called "Send a book". Later that night, once I got home, I saw that she had sent the book.

GLORIOUS! I started listening to it immediately.

“You guys know about vampires? . . . You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves. And growing up, I felt like a monster in some ways. I didn’t see myself reflected at all. I was like, “Yo is something wrong with me? That the whole society seems to think that people like me don’t exist?” And part of what inspired me, was this deep desire that before I died, I would make a couple of mirrors. That I would make some mirrors so that kids like me might see themselves reflected back and might not feel so monstrous for it.” ​

Review

I already thought Issa Rae was awesome, based on what I'd seen from her in her interviews and the shows she's in - so I had to listen to her book. She's so much more than I even expected.

The book is hilarious. I was snorting with laughter for much of it. She's a brilliant comedian, especially catering to the socially awkward.

There's a lot more than jokes in this book. It gets pretty personal - which only helps me relate to her more than I already did.

One story in specific was something I both understood and went through in my own way...

I was a pre-teen when internet chatrooms were a big thing. Like her, I was interested in some of the sexy-times stuff. Also like her, I had no idea what I was doing. I can't remember much of those times in detail, except one thing stands out.

​Some older guy was chatting to me, mostly I just let the guys say whatever and I tried to understand what they were saying and then repeat it back when I thought it made sense. Anyway, this is a guy I'd talked to for a while - I never gave any of my real information, mind you. I catfished the hell out of everyone I talked to online - saying I was 18 when I was like... 11. Back to the point... during one of these escapades, I mentioned that I had gotten "hard". Again, I was like 11 and had no idea what the hell I was saying. The guy immediately stops, asks if I'm a guy - and I panicked and blocked him.

So, she's got a lot of stuff in here that I totally get. And then she's got even more stuff that make me think she's way too awesome for me ever thinking I could be on the same level as her.

I totally have a girl crush on Issa Rae.

The book has a lot of amusing stories with some pretty personal ones mixed in. I highly recommend it. She's an amazing woman. I wish I could put into better words how much I appreciate the stuff she does.